Panama
Panama is the southernmost country of both Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City. From the time it achieved independence from Spain in 1821 until 1903, Panama was a department of Colombia. However, the United States intervened in the early 20th century, recognizing an independent Panama in 1903. In return, the U.S. was allowed to build and administer the Panama Canal, the land around which was declared by treaty to be a US Territory until the treaty expired on 31 December 1999. Panama in Days of Infamy Panama was strategically important to the US in its war with Japan as the Canal allowed the US Navy to transfer aircraft carriers from the Atlantic to the Pacific much faster.Days of Infamy, pg. 343, HC. The country was also heavily defended as the Japanese quickly found out, making reconnaissance near the country impossible.End of the Beginning, pg. 240, mpb. Panama in The Hot War While the country of Panama was not a specifically a belligerent during World War III, it was still harmed when the Soviet Union detonated an atomic bomb in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal in April 1951, which also destroyed the nearby town of Gatun.Bombs Away, pgs. 291-292, ebook. U.S. President Harry Truman went to Panama in May 1951, to meet with Panamanian President Arnulfo Arias and view the damage the atom bomb had caused. Upon seeing the wrecked canal, Truman profusely apologized for America's failure to prevent the attack, which Arias essentially accepted.Ibid., pg. 343. Arias was concerned by the tremendous damage the U.S. and the Soviet Union had done to one another, and wondered what Truman's long-term plans were. Truman assured Arias that the U.S. would keep going until the Soviet Union surrendered, an idea that seemed to horrify Arias.Ibid., pg. 344. Panama in "The Pugnacious Peacemaker" In 1941, the ship carrying Ib Scoglund and Eric Dunedin from Vinland docked at Uuraba, a port on the landstrait of Panama on the Westmiddle Sea. They traveled on land across the landstrait, and caught a ship on the south coast, going to Tawantiinsuuju.Down in the Bottomlands and Other Places, p. 216. Panama in Southern Victory Both the USA and the CSA had proposed building a canal across Colombia's Panama Province or Nicaragua throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, given the strategic implications, both countries also threatened war whenever either side seemed ready to put that plan in action.Return Engagement, pg. 215, TPB. The most famous example came in the 1890s when the C.S. made serious plans to build such a canal. In response, U.S. President Alfred Thayer Mahan threatened war, forcing the C.S. to abandon the plan.Walk in Hell, pg. 549-550, mpb. Throughout both the Great War and the Second Great War, sailors on both sides lamented the fact that there was no direct route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean without going all the way around South America.Return Engagement, pg. 215, TPB. References Category:Countries in North America Category:Allied Forces Members Category:Days of Infamy Category:The Hot War Category:The Pugnacious Peacemaker Category:Southern Victory Category:Spanish Empire (Alternate Timeline)